"I just want to be myself, you know?" says Justin Nozuka. The briefest
of nervous laughter, and a wry grin, say what he can't say for himself:
There is such a thing as too much introspection, even for a guy who's
made his mark by being candid and reflective. That irony is
informed by the old soul behind 21-year-old Nozuka's fresh-faced
countenance, and the duality is striking. New York-born, Canadian bred
Nozuka is young enough to have interview jitters, but sufficiently wise
to recognize when he stands to sound, well, full of it. So he's ever
vigilant, lest his character fall out of tune with who he wants to be:
"I don't wanna create [an inflated image of myself]."
Yeah, 'cause that's someone else's job. Nozuka's charge is to craft
songs that make his listeners feel like they were up all night together
and shared sleep-deprived confessions. The first collection of these,
Holly (Coalition/Glassnote Records), is named for Nozuka's highly
supportive mother, and came out when Nozuka was just 19. He penned the
first songs, "Supposed to Grow Old" and "I'm in Peace," when he was fifteen,
and wrote the rest between age 16 and 17, but the press marveled at his
mature sound and vision, calling Nozuka "as soulful and wise as blues
greats four times his age." His follow-up, You I Wind Land And Sea, will cement and further define that reputation-even as Nozuka endeavors to stay grounded amid copious praise of Holly and his performances on tour and television (VH1's You Oughta Know, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America NOW, mtvU Woodie Awards).
"I realized," Nozuka explains, "that for the music to be free and open,
with no restrictions, my creative process had to be more inclusive."
Although many of the songs were written without the band, Nozuka says
they practiced-and sometimes performed-them on tour, to develop "a
collective feel." So when they got to the studio, Nozuka gave the songs
up to his band and producer Bill Bell. "We sorta went right back to the
ground and started building again. It was wonderful...a strong learning
experience for myself and my band"
YIWLAS encompasses a dozen deep, liberating tracks that expand on the acoustic folk-soul foundation base Nozuka laid with Holly
and introduce key influences that Nozuka couldn't convey without his
band. The moody, tribal "Gray" checks Jeff Buckley as much as Ray
LaMontagne; "Carried You" nods to Philly soul and disco, first single
"My Heart Is Yours" applies gospel devotion to romantic soul, and
"Unwoken Dream (King With Everything)" mines the psych-folk genre-an
ostensible left turn for Nozuka, yet perfectly executed. And throughout
the album, the production nods subtly to Radiohead, adding a third
dimension to Nozuka's sound which (fans of Holly will be happy to hear) finds his powerful soul pipes running as smoothly as ever.
Whereas Holly "just sort of happened without any real concept," Nozuka feels YIWLAS
has "more of a vision" behind it. "There was definitely more of an idea
of what kind of sound I wanted," he says. "I wanted it to be very
natural... and it had to sound like us. I wanted to be able
to hear and feel humans behind the creation of it all, as opposed to
something that was 'hit' driven." He credits the experience of touring
with his band.
"It was important to have songs
that were open," he says, citing "Gray" as an example of consensus
through alchemy. The song "transformed so much" in the studio, taking
on "this powerful
tribal feeling" due to the percussion, but also benefiting from a group
effort to avoid over-thinking. "With art, it's most important to just
to follow your senses. It doesn't matter if it's been done before or if
it's not correct in pop culture or whatever. If it feels right, it's
right."
Nozuka says the openness policy was "a big
moment" in both his creative and personal growth. "I try live moment to
moment," he says, but on YIWLAS's
final track, "How Low," Nozuka bares more of his soul than he's
accustomed to, because "it was just created out of a place of openness.
I was just in the moment, no noise in my mind, no questions. I allowed
the song to happen and it just felt great." While he doesn't know how
to describe the song, he feels its very existence is the "absolute
essence of art... a place that is real and mystical and aw-inspiring."
Call it paradise, nirvana, whatever-but from where Justin Nozuka sits
now, everything looks good. He's happy and prolific, and eyeing a
prosperous 2010. Although there are tours and TV appearances and
interviews to come, he's gonna stick to the plan that works. "I just am
going with... the flow."